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At Last. The Truth about the tunnel. At last the truth is out. The Infamous South Weald secret tunnel. The one that generations of town's folk have believed run from the ruins at Chapel High some two miles underground to somewhere in South Weald did not exist. And that's official. Well not according to 76-year-old Vic Fisher who back in the fifties was South Weald parks first park ranger. Vic got in contact with Brentwood Style after last months memories from Mrs Coleman who remembered as a teenager exploring a short length of the tunnel hidden behind a secret entrance in the wine cellars of Weal Hall. She told us that a short passageway led into a larger brick lined barrel vaulted tunnel that along the frontage of the old Weald Hall. Her feeling being that the tunnel she found could have been part of an escape route for visitors to the hall who did not wish prying local eyes to know they had been in residence. All true says Vic. Now living in retirement in Roxwell, but it was not the secret tunnel. He remembers back in late 1953, when he joined the County Council as one of the first Park wardens. This was a time whilst the County Council were still demolishing the Hall and its out-buildings. One of his first tasks he remembers was to help clear the area near the stables for a new car park, and it was during this work that he was able to break into the Tunnel. What the then 26-year-old Vic discovered back then, was a remaining section of the tunnel. Explored by Mrs Coleman. However farther investigation revealed that into this large five foot was nothing more then a large storm drain, into which ran a number of smaller drainage tunnels, some no more then two foot high and all brick lined, all built with a Georgian style brick design. In order to see where it led, the investigators poured in an amount of tracing die, and were amazed reports Vic to note that it re-appeared flowing into a small pond. So far from being a secret Tunnel, the underground constructions of Weald Hall and its out buildings were nothing more then a network of land and storm drains.
BUT JUST AS THAT ARTICLE WENT TO PRESSS, ANOTHER TELEPHONE CALL CAME IN WITH MORE INFORMATION.. No sooner did my article on Brentwood's secret tunnels appear last months, when I had a flood of calls from the towns tunnel historians. It got so I could not wander down the High street without being waylaid by local tunnel lovers with comments along the lines of, "of course the infamous South Weald to Brentwood tunnel exist – I played in it's entrance." Many even pointed to a small ground level doorway in the ruins of the chapel at Chapel high, suggesting that this was the High Street entrance. The fact that within the door can clearly be seen steps leading up inside the old tower being regarded as a crafty disguise. But by far the best information came from Mrs Cole, who whilst now living in Ingatestone, spent her teenage years just after the war in South Weald. Mrs Cole is my best witness so far. She told me she knew the old Weald Hall well, and that as an Eighteen year old in the late forties got to know the Gamekeeper of the old Weald Hall estate. On one of her visits, she said, as thanks for some supplies of Tea which with war time shortages was still in short supply. He took he down into the cellars under Weald Hall, many of which were devoted to store rooms. In one, given over to a wine store stood among the wine racks a large barrel. Here her guide tripped a secret lock, where upon the front of the barrel swung open to reveal a hollow tube to a hatch in the back. On crawling through this hatch Mrs Cole remembers she dropped down into the centre of a brick lined tunnel, which run she remembers along the front of the house above. As for its size, Mrs Cole said that although the roof was low, it was possible with a stoop to stand, One side of the tunnel recalls was blocked with rubble, but she was able to explore the tunnel on the other side of the entrance for some distance until this two was blocked off with rubble, where the roof had fallen in. At one point Mrs Cole told me, she could clearly see daylight through a grill, but was certain that it did not run to the stables of even the tower some distance from the house. Mrs Cole – to whom I offer my most grateful thanks for her information - looking back almost fifty years since her teenage adventure. Feels she may have been in a form of priests hole, only in this case an escape tunnel to another local South Weald village house. So is this the explanation. Generations of loyal servants must have known of such an escape route, and who knows it may well have been used. The Tunnel in one direction leading to a nearby safe house, and in the other to a woodland entrance where a freshly saddled horse and guide may well have been waiting to move the families guest to another place of safety. And maybe, just maybe over a few jars in the areas local pubs, when noses were tapped and stories of the tunnel told in low whispers, it's length just got longer as the beer in their mugs got lower. ENDS
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